Petard (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For the similar unit in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, see Petard (Age of Empires II).

Petard
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs
Type	Siege trooper
Civilization(s)	Europeans Asians United States Central America
Age	Fortress Age
Training
Trained at	Artillery Foundry (Europeans and United States)
Cost	50 Food 100 Wood 1 Population
Train time	40 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	225
Resistance	20% Hand
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	15
Train XP	15
Kill XP	15
Siege attack
Damage	1,600 Siege
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	6 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5

“	Siege warrior that dies when it attacks buildings, but does lots of damage.	”
—In-game description

The Petard is an infantry siege unit in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs that can be trained at the Artillery Foundry once the Fortress Age is reached. Similar to the Age of Empires II counterpart, it is a suicide unit that can deal massive damage to buildings.

Petards are available to the United States and European civilizations except John Black's Mercenaries (Act II: Ice campaign) and Knights of St. John (Act I: Blood campaign).

Overview

Unction boosted regular Petards with all available upgrades are capable of inflicting 3257 damage versus buildings in a single explosion. They will also possess 393 hit points, 4.40 speed and double (12) their usual hand damage power. However, their hand damages are still ineffective in actual combat.

Upgrades

The Petard is automatically upgraded in the Industrial Age and Imperial Age.

• +25% hit points and damage
• +50% hit points

Civilization differences

• Asian civilizations can get Petards by allying with the British and Portuguese at the Consulate, which provides shipments that includes Petards listed below.
  • British (Chinese and Indians): 5 Petards
  • Portuguese (Indians and Japanese): Exploration Fleet (1 Caravel with 3 Petards)

Revolutions

• The Mexicans can use Petards in the Commerce Age if revolted into Central America through the "Santamaria's Fire" Home City Card, which have -25% hit points and damage.
• The United States can send the "Bushnell's Continental Sappers" Home City Card, which will give Petards Stealth mode.

Variants

• Nitroglycerin Petard
• Stealth Petard

Nitroglycerin Petard
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs
Type	Siege trooper
Civilization(s)	Germans
Age	Industrial Age
Training
Cost	1 Population
Statistics
Hit points	750
Resistance	40% Hand
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	15
Kill XP	15
Siege attack
Damage	4,500 Siege
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	6 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5

“	Siege warrior that dies when it attacks buildings, but does lots of damage.	”
—In-game description

The Nitroglycerin Petard (Nitro Petard before the Definitive Edition) is a counterpart of the Petard.

Civilization differences

• The Germans can ship four Nitroglycerin Petards through the "Demolition Squad" Home City Card which have more than thrice the hit points and almost triple the siege attack of regular Petards, allowing them to destroy most buildings in one hit.

Stealth Petard
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Type	Siege trooper
Civilization(s)	Maya United States (Revolutionary)
Age	Revolution
Training
Cost	1 Population
Statistics
Hit points	225
Resistance	20% Hand
Speed	4.0
Line of Sight	15
Ability	Stealth mode
Kill XP	15
Siege attack
Damage	2,000 Siege
Rate of Fire	3.0
Hand attack
Damage	10 Hand
Rate of Fire	1.5

“	Petard with the ability to use stealth.	”
—In-game description

The Stealth Petard is a counterpart of the Petard, which has Stealth mode.

Civilization differences

• The Mexicans can ship 4 Stealth Petards upon revolting to the Maya through the "Poot's Plan" Home City Card.
• The British, Dutch, French, Italians, and Swedes can ship 6 Stealth Petards upon revolting to the United States through the "Bushnell's Continental Sappers" Home City Card. This shipment arrives 25% faster if the "American Patriotism" Home City Card was previously sent.

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Buildings
Weak vs.	Units, especially cavalry and artillery
Improvements
Hit points	Tar Kilns (+5%)
Attack	Somali Ajuran Engineers (+20% multiplier vs. Frontier fortification)
Speed	Apache Endurance (+5%)
Line of Sight	Town Watch (+3)
Train time	Immigrants (-10%) New Mexico Immigration (-10%; United States only)
Other	5 Petards (delivers 5 Petards; Chinese and Indians only) Exploration Fleet (delivers 1 Caravel with 3 Petards in it; Japanese only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Petard

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Purple	Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
Red	Shipment that can be sent twice
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

• Definitive Edition
• The Asian Dynasties

Asians

Card	Description	Age
Good Faith Agreements	Consulate unit train time -50%; Consulate technology cost -40% (-300 export for Brigades), research time -50% (except Brigades)

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
Western Reforms	Unit hit points and damage +8%
Recruit Wokou + 10 Petards	Delivers 1 Wokou Junk with 10 Petards in it; costs 1,000 coin

Dutch

Card	Description	Age
6 Petards	Delivers 6 Petards

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
Wanderlust	Land military and land villager hit points +5%; land villager and construction wagon speed +5% (can be sent 3 times)
Powder Alarm	Delivers 5 Petards and 1 Depot Wagon; delivers 1 Depot Wagon with every future Home City shipment, including this one
Bushnell's Continental Sappers	Delivers 6 Stealth Petards; Petards can use stealth; costs 500 coin
American Patriotism	State Militia train time -45%; Regular and Revolutionary Sharpshooter train time -35%; Carbine Cavalry and Legion Grenadier train time -25%; Home City Cards' that enables unique units for the Revolution arrive time -25%

• "Wanderlust" is available to the British and Dutch upon revolting to South Africa, and can be sent 3 times.
• "Powder Alarm", "Bushnell's Continental Sappers", and "American Patriotism" are available to the British, Dutch, French, Italians, and Swedes upon revolting to the United States.

Germans

Card	Description	Age
Demolition Squad	Delivers 4 Nitroglycerin Petards, +4 Uhlans

Indians

Card	Description	Age
Dravidian Martial Arts	Unit all melee attack damage +15%; Rajput hand attack damage +20% instead, +1 Hindu Villager
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	Unit hit points and damage +5%

Maltese

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Knights of the Round Table	Delivers 1 Hospitaller for each Town Center and Command Post present on the map; unit hit points +2%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%
Colegio de San Nicolas	Delivers 1 Large Collection of Books (500 XP); unit Line of Sight +4; building (except Wall) Line of Sight +8; reveals enemy units' positions for 20 seconds
National Servant	Unit (except herded animals) hit points +10%; Padre heal work rate +200%	Imperial Age
Santamaria's Fire	Delivers 4 Soldados; delivers 1 Petard with every future Home City shipment, including this one
Poot's Plan	Delivers 4 Stealth Petards

• "Colegio de San Nicolas" is available upon selecting the Michoacán Federal State.
• "National Servant" is available upon selecting the Estado de México Federal State.
• "Santamaria's Fire" is available upon revolting to Central America.
• "Poot's Plan" is available upon revolting to the Maya.

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Inquisition	Delivers 1 Inquisitor; military and economic unit Line of Sight +10

United States

Card	Description	Age
Indiana Mobilization	Delivers 1 Carbine Cavalry for each shipment sent so far this game, including this one; unit train time, technology research time, Age up time -10%; costs 250 food, 250 wood

• "Indiana Mobilization" is available upon selecting the Indiana Federal State.

Asians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Good Faith Agreements	Consulate units' train time -50%; Consulate technologies' cost -40% (-400 export for Brigades) and research time -50% (except Brigades) (also +1 Villager for the Indians)		1

Chinese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Western Reforms	All units get +8% hit points and damage		40
TEAM Engineering School	Abus Gunner, Grenadier, Culverin, Falconet, Mortar, Organ Gun, Mantlet, Ram, Light Cannon, Petard, Horse Artillery, Siege Elephant, Morutaru, Flaming Arrow, Hand Mortar, and Flamethrower train time -30%; Heavy Cannon, Great Bombard, Rocket, and Flying Crow train time -5%		25
Recruit Wokou + 10 Petards	Ships 1 Wokou Junk with 10 Petards; costs 1,000 coin		25

Dutch

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Infantry Hitpoints	Infantry get +15% hit points		10
6 Petards	Ships 6 Petards		10

Europeans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Fencing School	Infantry train time -40%		10
Engineering School	Abus Gunner, Grenadier, Culverin, Falconet, Mortar, Organ Gun, Mantlet, Ram, Light Cannon, Petard, Horse Artillery, Siege Elephant, Morutaru, Flaming Arrow, Hand Mortar, and Flamethrower train time -40%; Heavy Cannon, Great Bombard, Rocket, and Flying Crow train time -10%		25

• "Engineering School" is available to the French, Ottomans, Portuguese, and Russians.

Germans

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Demolition Squad	Ships 4 Nitro Petards; +4 Uhlans		40

Indians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Dravidian Martial Arts	All units get +15% hand damage; +1 Villager		40
TEAM Shivaji's Tactics	All units get +5% hit points and damage		25

Iroquois

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Scout Infantry	Infantry get +8 Line of Sight		10

Japanese

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Onin War	Infantry get +33% siege attack		40

Russians

Card	Description	Age	HC level
Ransack	Infantry get +50% siege attack		25
Dueling School	Infantry (except Skull Knights), Old Han Army, and Territorial Army train time -25%; Black Flag Army, Standard Army, Ming Army, and Imperial Army train time -12%		25

Spanish

Card	Description	Age	HC level
TEAM Inquisition	All units get +10 Line of Sight		10

Changelog

The WarChiefs

• Petards are tagged as infantry, have 40% hand resistance and receive an Imperial Age +50% attack bonus.

Definitive Edition

• Petards are not tagged as infantry and do not receive an Imperial Age +50% attack bonus.

Knights of the Mediterranean

• With update 13.27885, Petards have 20% hand resistance.

Trivia

• When the Petard attacks a building, it shows that the soldiers who carry the bomb will attempt to escape from the explosion, but do not succeed and die.
• Despite the model featuring two men carrying the bomb, the Petard only uses a single population slot.
• Although Petards are excellent for destroying buildings, they are very weak at fighting other units by using hand combat. Petards cannot blow up on units to kill them, making them defenseless to any soldiers.

History

“

The term petard first emerged during medieval times, referring to a small and notoriously unstable explosive device similar in concept and usage to the modern grenade. The name probably derives from the Latin "petar," which means, "to break wind" (an example of the military mind's wry sense of humor.) To be "hoisted by one's own petard" is a phrase commonly thought to mean something along the lines of "being hung with your own rope"; or, to stay true to the actual context of an explosive device, to be blown up by your own bomb. The saying is derived from Shakespeare's Hamlet. The bard wrote: "For 'tis the sport to have the engineer Hoist with his own petar"

”

Gallery

An in-game Petard

A large Petard explosion

In-game Petard in the Definitive Edition

Petard image from the Compendium section